NBA Rumors: Kevin Martin To The Chicago Bulls?
NBA Rumors
Disclaimer: This rumor originated on the message board of InsideHoops, and should not be taken with anything less but a truckload of salt. With that in mind, let’s toy around with this idea for a moment.
The deal, allegedly, is Mike Dunleavy, Tony Snell, and a second-rounder for Kevin Martin. First order of business for me was checking to see if the trade was even technically possible, and it just barely is. The Wolves would take on contracts worth almost $4.8 million, while sending away Martin’s deal worth close to $6.8 million. This is where the 150 percent trading rule from the 2011 CBA comes in handy, as this trade sits at near 142 percent and would have been impossible under the CBA from 2006.
From a roster perspective, the trade also makes sense. Martin is entering his 11th season and has a unique set of scoring skills that the Bulls could use. He’s a high-efficiency player who has canned over 1,000 triples in his career, and is sitting on average of six free throw attempts per game. His career TS% of .591 is outright elite, especially for a wing player, and on a loaded team this would likely increase further as it did in Oklahoma City two years ago, where he sported an impressive .608 percentage.
And did I mention he’s doing this on fairly high volume? Martin is a career 17.9 point scorer in just under 31 minutes a night, and has had five seasons of 20+ points, including three seasons of 23+ points a night. The guy can score. Period.
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Alongside Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol, and Joakim Noah, Martin would be able to play mostly off the ball, as all three of them are excellent passers. In particular, Martin’s ability to cut hard to the hoop would present a devastating scoring element to the Bulls, as both Gasol and Noah can pass out of the paint. With the added spacing from rookies Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic, Martin would find himself with more space on the perimeter to get a shot off.
From Minnesota’s side, they get younger. Dunleavy wouldn’t be there past this season anyway, and Snell has potential, even after a disappointing rookie season. The 22-year old is almost unrealistically long, has a solid shooting stroke of his own, and even shows flashes of superb athleticism. If the Bulls were not going for a championship these days, they more than likely would not consider moving Snell before seeing what they had in him. But should this rumor be true, it makes sense that the Bulls is willing to sacrifice potential for established production.
Minnesota has built themselves a nice young core, and Snell would fit right in. He could even move directly into the starting line-up alongside Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio, Thaddeus Young, and Nikola Pekovic. That group would likely struggle initially as the main scoring duty would then fall on Young, but if the Wolves have decided to focus on development instead of wins – a philosophy I don’t particularly agree with in this instance – such a line-up would make loads of sense.
A wing duo of Snell and Wiggins would be rather enjoyable to watch. Both are long and quick, and while Wiggins is already an über athlete, Snell can do some stuff on his own:
It’s difficult to find flaws with such a deal, especially if Minnesota is hoping for a high pick next summer. Their 2015 first-rounder, goes to Phoenix next year if their pick lands outside the top-12, so getting within that would be preferable. In fact, the same applies for 2016, and if Minnesota has not conveyed a pick to the Suns by then, it automatically changes to a 2nd rounder in 2017. So in that regard, it makes sense for the Timberwolves to drop assets and focus on development for the next two seasons.
For Chicago, they obviously get one of the most well-adjusted rosters in the NBA. They’ll be able to throw out a rotation consisting of Rose, Martin, Jimmy Butler, Gasol, Noah, Taj Gibson, McDermott, Mirotic, Aaron Brooks, and Kirk Hinrich. That’s the deepest rotation Tom Thibodeau has ever had during his tenure as an NBA head coach, and the offense to defense ratio of that line-up would be downright exquisite.
Needless to say, no official report has come on this matter, so this sounds like hot air so far. However, with almost a month until training camp, deals can still be made and this one does make sense. It’ll be interesting to see if this “rumor” has any legs down the line.